Immigration attorney Willy Allen issued a clear warning to Cubans applying for permanent residency in the United States: declaring membership in mass organizations such as the CDR, the CTC, or the FEU is not only mandatory, but failing to disclose it could cost them their citizenship and lead to deportation.
Allen addressed the topic during a live program with CiberCuba, hosted by Tania Costa, in the context of the official lifting of the USCIS immigration pause, which had halted residency processes for nationals from 39 countries, including Cuba, since late 2025.
One of the most frequently asked questions from the audience centered around whether automatic membership in the CDR—assigned in Cuba starting at the age of 14 without the citizen's request—must be declared in the residency application.
The lawyer's response was straightforward. "The point for me is to tell the truth in a residency application. If you were a cedista, if you were part of the CTC, if you were in the FEU, I have never seen anyone denied residency for having been in the CDR, having done military service, having been in the FEU, or having been in the CTC."
The risk lies not in having belonged to those organizations, but in hiding it. "But why create a response —not mentioning it— that could lead to accusations of lying? It makes no sense," Allen warned.
A user of the program, identified as Cubana Libre, pointed out that "CTC, FMC, FEU, CDR are not political organizations; they are mass organizations, and they include you whenever they feel like it." Allen responded, "Of course, that is the truth. My point is that if you go to an interview and you haven't mentioned your involvement in mass activities, and you have an interviewer who is educated and prepared, then you have a problem."
The lawyer established a fundamental distinction between mass organizations and political organizations, in which he places the PCC (Communist Party of Cuba) and the UJC (Union of Young Communists).
For these cases, the consequences of not declaring are much more severe. "If you were part of the UJC or the PCC and more than five years have passed, you can apply for your residency. And if you were and you don't mention it and they discover it in the future, that is a reason for them to revoke your citizenship and deport you from the United States."
Allen illustrated the difference with a specific case. "I mention this because in a previous program a girl was accused during her interview of being from the FEU, but she was from the PCC." The confusion between these two categories, he said, can have very different consequences in front of a USCIS official.
This scenario is becoming more significant now that USCIS confirmed the lifting of the immigration pause following an order from federal judge John J. McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island, who declared the policies that had stalled thousands of applications illegal.
Allen anticipated that the residency interviews will be more rigorous and focused, particularly for Cubans with a background of involvement in the structures of the Cuban State, and advised to always go with a lawyer and interpreter.
His final advice sums it all up: telling the truth from the beginning is the only strategy with no risk.
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